This 3 day, 4 night tour is a perfect combination of trek and culture while visiting hill tribes villages AND an ethnic minority market at a pace and style that complements you. Journey away from the crowds and homestay at a traditional Dao home amongst the rice paddies. Participate in ethnic life and learn about the different cultures of Vietnam. This is an unforgettable soft adventure and market visit that should be part of everyone’s time in Vietnam.
The night before: 8:00 pm transfer to the Hanoi train station for boarding at 9:10 pm. You will share an AC soft sleeper cabin and travel North to Lao Cai town.
Today’s morning: The train arrives at about 6:00 am. Look for the “Footprint Travel” sign when you exit the train station, as our guide will pick you up there. Take a morning drive through the clouds by car / van to Sapa, about 1.5 hours. When you arrive in Sapa you will be taken to a local restaurant for a morning shower, breakfast, a short rest and some last preparations before our inspiring trek.
We will then take short ride from Sapa to our trekking base. Our trek through the terraced valleys, up and down hills will take about 5 to 6 hours. We will pass rice paddies, bamboo forests, and minority villages. Lunch break along the way depending on our pace. When we arrive in Taphin village, our Dao host family will welcome us to their home where we will share in an ethnic style dinner and stay the night.
Inclusion:
Transfer, guide, train ticket, entrance fee, all meals, permit, homestay.
At the first gleam of daylight, you will see and hear the sounds of morning village life. You can join your host family in some of their morning activities like feeding the animals, cleaning the houses, gardening or preparing breakfast. After breakfast, we can take a short wander around the village or spend more time enjoying the view and company at the homestay.
You will be then supported by our car / van back to Sapa (30 minutes). When we arrive back in Sapa, check into the hotel, shower, and pause for lunch on your own. At 2:30 pm we will take an easy 5 km walk to Cat Cat village, home of Black H’mong hill tribe, and to take part in a traditional ethnic music performance put on by the ethnic minority people. Dinner and the evening on your own. Overnight in the hotel in Sapa.
Note: The music show in Cat Cat is closed on Tuesday afternoon, an alternative will be arranged.
Inclusion:
Breakfast, transfer, guide, entrance fee, music show ticket, hotel.
Sunday is a common market day for many tribes in Northwest Vietnam and Bac Ha has become renowned for its colourfulness. The market is packed different ethnic minorities coming from different villages. Their vibrant trading activities last from early morning till midday. Look for hand-made fabrics, the black smithing area, as well as the buffalo zone.
We will leave Sapa early by 7:00 am so that we can be there on time. Please pay respect to the locals here and ask permission before you taking a photo of anyone.
Lunch in Bac Ha on your own account then we will leave for a boat trip along the Chay river, The boat ride is about 1.5 hours. Return to Lao Cai near the train station. Dinner on your own well before the train leaves for Hanoi.
Arrival in Hanoi is at about 5:00 am the next morning. Please find your own way back to your hotel, a taxi normally costs you about 50,000 VND.
Inclusion:
Transfer, guide, breakfast, entrance fee, local boat, train ticket.
Community Support: As you will see that we are going to stay one night in Ta Phin village, where the local people are working on their own community based tourism, we use their homestay, food cooking. It's about 5% of the tour cost goes directly the family we stay and the local community.
